Whose child has had a tonsillectomy?

[Mellie2162]

DS9 is having one tomorrow morning. Im nervous beyond belief. His ENT says he's keeping him overnight because of his sleep apnea, just to be sure and then discharge in the morning. My question is, what can I expect from my little guy tomorrow as far as pain and alertness? Im going to be spending the night with him and if he's going to be mostly sleeping it off then I will need to pack some good reading materials to keep me occupied. Im just nervous for him and dont know what to expect.

 

[John VN]

DGS, 6yo, just had his out yesterday AM. Was hurting some last night but was back home. Dr. is keeping him home from school until Tues. next week.

Everything will be fine so relax.

 

[MAKmom]

We had the complete removal. It was very painful. My DD was prescribed Hydrocodone every 6 hours. Set your alarm & make sure he gets it for the first week every 6 hours. DD could not do anything solid for 1 week. I ended up putting chicken in the blender after a few days.

 

[Mellie2162]

His doc gave him tylenol with codeine to have filled and waiting. He told us to give it to him whether hes hurting or not on time. I remember the pain from when i had it done about 5 years ago but i wasnt sure how children react to it.

 

[mudnuri]

Well, each child will react differently, but here's what DD now 10 did at 3 when she had hers out.

They kept her overnight as well, due to her asthma, and the general anesthesia- not a big deal, and I felt much better!

She slept the entire time at the hospital- very groggy...you will need something to occupy yourself, however you will be spent after the pre-op and then waiting for him to come out. It's very emotionally draining..trust me you will sleep too!

As far as pain- DD was prescribed a cough syrup with codeine- to combat 2 things. 1 you dont want them to cough, because that can disturb the blood clot, and 2nd the pain. This killed 2 birds with one stone...worked great for her, she got it every 4-6 hours, and I think the 1st 2-3 days I gave it to her every 4 hours, even if she didnt complain of any pain.

You do not want to allow him to feel the pain, keep him medicated, thats why they prescribe it. If he is in pain, he may not even drink ,and keeping him hydrated is VERY important, for both pain and healing.

DD started eating I think on the 2nd day, with jello- room temperature, because cold bothered her...ice cream and pudding came shortly after that, and then soups- luke warm of course.

Just remember, a T/A is a surgery that is performed usually 10-12 times by a surgeon on a surgery day. This ENT has more than likely performed thousands of them, your son is in good hands, and it is a VERY common surgery, much different than if he was having some exploratory or new surgery.

He will do fine, but you can do some things to keep him happy

Brandy

 

[wilderness01]

He will be groggy and have a bad sore throat. It will be ok. Bring reading materials for sure and some snacks for yourself. Good luck.

 

[akhenaten]

My dd3 wanted a ham sandwich the next day....
she was just fine.....not much discomfort at alll....

though a couple of weeks later she had a crouton in her salad and it hurt her...I felt terrible!!!

 

[Chim Chiminy]

I don't remember a whole lot about DD's....she had her tonsils and adenoids out plus tubes put in her ears three years ago Saturday.

She did fine with the anesthesia going under, but coming out of it she did not. Hopefully they have talked with you about the anesthesia part of surgery. Everyone reacts differently......
DD starting waking and was very disoriented and started screaming. They rushed me in to her, to help calm her which she did calm down. But the screaming hurt her throat and led to some vomiting.
After that, everything went smoothly.


We kept her medicated, which is what they recommend.
And she ate soft foods for several days---pudding, jellos and soups mainly. Lots of popsicles.

If you can, send in a stuffy or favorite toy with him. It really helped DD feel better about going in to surgery.

 

[petrymom]

DD(8) had hers out almost 1 year ago- (end of Feb 2007) She was sick the first day from the anesthesia and may have had an allergic reaction to the demerol she was given.

She came home the same day with an Rx for tylenol with codiene. She only used it twice. Once the first day she came home and once the day after her dad decided to forget to dose her with her tylenol at bedtime. She woke up miserable the next morning.

Otherwise, she did just fine. She ate lots of jello, ice cream and popsicles. It was SO WORTH it. She snored something fierce. Her adenoids also came out. They were HUGE!!!

Good luck - everything will be just fine.

 

[golfgal]

DD12 had her tonsils, adenoids and tubes put in when she was 5. Our dr keeps all the kids overnight for observation so that was nice. She was sleepy the first day, when we went home the next day she was rearing to go. She never complained that her throat was sore, never even took a plain tylenol after we left the hospital. The hardest part was finding soft foods that filled her up--mashed potatoes were great for that.